WATN: Larry Wilson's legacy runs deep at Perry

Tthe greatest era of Perry basketball came to a close on in 1991 when Larry Wilson stepped down as Panthers coach.

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The Suburbanite

Posted Dec. 27, 2013 at 7:50 AM

Posted Dec. 27, 2013 at 7:50 AM

PERRY TWP.

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Where are they now?

This is the latest in our "Where Are They Now?" series that catches up on people who at one time were featured in the pages of The Independent. Have an idea for us to pursue? Email newsroom@indeonline.com.

A standout member of the best basketball team in Perry High School history — the Panthers finished 24-2 in 1990-91 and remain the only Perry team to advance to the state tournament — Hare was walking the school's hallways when he noticed a commotion around coach Larry Wilson's office.

As Hare soon found out, the greatest era of Perry basketball, and arguably one of the finest in area annals, came to a close on May 15, 1991, when Wilson stepped down as Panthers coach.

"I was shocked. I had no idea," said Hare, the Panthers' 6-foot-9 center who went on to play at the University of Dayton and is now the athletic director at Piqua High School. " ... I remember going home, and I didn't want to do it in front of him, but I was just very emotional. I was 19 years old at the time, and I wasn't crying because I wasn't going to be playing for him anymore, but because I knew how much it meant to him. For him to step away, that was a very difficult decision and I knew a lot of people were going to be impacted by that.

"I knew a legacy had truly come to an end."

A LONG RUN

Indeed it had, but what a run it was for Wilson and the Panthers.

Wilson came to Perry prior to the 1973-74 season following a brief, but successful, three-year stint at Fairless. He led the Falcons to a 17-1 mark and a Federal League title in 1971-72.

Wilson recalled being wooed to coach the Panthers by then superintendent Paul Pfeiffer.

"Perry came knocking at the door and I was very happy at Fairless," said Wilson, 72, who has lived in Anthem, Ariz., with his wife, Mary Claire, since 2004. "Paul Pfeiffer, it was like leading a sheep to slaughter when you were in the same room with that guy. He was unbelievable and so persuasive. I told him their gym was pathetic and I wouldn't go there because of that. He told me that if I came there, in two years they'd have a new gym.

"Lo and behold, in about two, two-and-a-half years, we had a brand-new gym. We lost the first game in that gym, and he told me 'Mr. Wilson, I like you, but we didn't build this gym to lose games in.' "

Wilson didn't lose many games, either in what came to be known as "Larry's Gym," or elsewhere. Perry went 11-8 his first season, the first of 16 winning seasons out of his 18 on the Panthers' bench (Perry was 3-15 in 1978-79 and 10-10 in 1984-85). He finished with a 279-118 mark at Perry, including a run of six straight Federal League titles to close his career. Including earlier stints at Westfall, Whitehall and Lucas, Wilson finished with a 384-180 career record in 27 years on the court.

Page 2 of 3 - ABOUT DISCIPLINE

During his coaching career, Wilson described himself as "a firm believer in discipline" and a "hard coach to play for." While his former players won't argue with that assessment, they endured the tough practices for the payoff on the other end.

"Larry Wilson was a ferocious coach," said Chad Spurgeon, who graduated with Hare in 1991 and is the coach at New Philadelphia. "I readily acknowledge that, but you accepted that from him just like you accepted that from your father, in a way. You knew that he cared about you, it made you willing to go through that ferociousness. Practices were grueling, games were grueling, and there were times where there were certainly easier paths to take.

"At the end of the day, though, you knew he cared about you and you knew he had your best interest at heart. Because of that you were willing to go through the wall for him."

Rob Toth played for Wilson at Perry before eventually serving as an assistant under him on the 1990-91 team that lost, 68-62, in the state semifinals to eventual Division I champion Cleveland St. Joseph. Toth was drawn immediately to Wilson's coaching style, but also quickly discovered the coach had a more open, caring side, that wasn't often seen by the public.

"There was a kid in the class below me, Dan Tilton, who ended up being a really a good player and I ended up being the best man in his wedding," said Toth, a 1977 graduate who went 77-57 in six seasons as Perry coach (2004-10). "After my exit meeting with Larry after my junior season, he said Dan was sick and we were going to Fishers together and get a bag of fruit and some other things to take over to his house. He somehow knew that relationship was going to be important between Dan and I over the next couple years, and we ended up becoming lifelong friends.

"That had a big impact on me, even at a young age. This was how you treated people, how you treated your teammates. Larry always tried to foster that relationship so that he could demand those things from his players. It was a real strength of his all the way to the end of his career."

Hare recalled similar instances of Wilson's behind-the-scenes favors.

"I remember if I was sick, or any of our players, Larry would make a personal visit to your house and drop off soup and juice," Hare said. "He also took players out to dinner a couple times a year.

"He always did little things that made a difference from being an average team to being a good team."

HALL OF FAME CAREER

The ultimate payoff came with the 1990-91 team that captured its sixth straight league championship in going 19-1 in the regular season. Wilson said the chemistry of that team was unmatched.

Page 3 of 3 - "Most of them had been on the team for three years, some of them even four," Wilson said. "They were very easy to coach and they accepted tough coaching. They accepted their roles on the team, and that was the most important thing.

"We were fortunate that they all meshed so well."

Wilson taught at Perry until 1997, the same year he was inducted into the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. While he never was a head coach again after leaving Perry in 1991, Wilson stayed active by leading camps and also serving in many roles with the OHSBCA, including his current one as the association's public relations director.

In a testament to Wilson's ability to build deep ties within his teams, he still stays in contact with several of his former players and coaches, including Toth, Hare and Spurgeon. One of Wilson's regular return visits to Ohio occurs during the OHSBCA's annual Hall of Fame induction dinner.

While he may be largely gone from the area now, members of Wilson's coaching tree are making sure the lessons he taught are being passed down to a new generation.

"He continues, to this day, to inspire me," Hare said. "I called him (recently) to thank him because we recently implemented some things we used to do at Perry. I took things from Coach Wilson and people here at Piqua think it's innovative stuff, that I created this stuff on my own. It's not; it's stuff that we did a lot of at Perry. You just tweak it and make it Piqua instead of Perry.

"The key part is he engaged people and wanted people to be a part of a program that was bigger than themselves. That's why he won and that's why he was so successful. To be a part of something like that, for me, is still one of the highlights of my life."